lessons (re)learned (long & rambling)

[Mike W.]

Water temp dropped to 42 yesterday. Air was supposed to get up to 31 (I don't think that happened). There is still snow on the ground from our 1st of the season that fell Friday. I load the Viper & hit the river. As I'm heading upstream I notice ice forming on my poggies (thanks for the pattern Bob), paddle, skirt & deck. No sweat, I've done this before right? Just don't do anything real stupid. After a couple of miles I get to some stuff to play on . A little front surfing, some mild stern squirts , better stay away from that side surfing hole at these temperatures . I played for a while, took a break, played some more.

Then I head back down stream. Water is dropping so I've got a nice eddyline & waves are starting to form at the rapid at the take out. More mild stern squirts. Whoops, one went vertical . Somehow I landed it upright (must've been the survival instinct kicking in). Think I'll do some surfing. I was on this wave forever . Then as I attempt to peel off, I flip . Good, quick roll & I'm up. Never stopped moving though, the momentum from the roll kept going & I was over again . Another quick roll, I'm up & stable . Quickly I paddled over to the beach, removed my helmet & fleece cap. Wring out the cap. Rub my head & there's ice up there in my hair . What's this? Ice in my mustache too . This aint cool...It's downright COLD!

I surf some more. Do some more stern squirts. Then get out for a break. That's when the trouble starts. I try to get the skirt back on the boat. The outer edge of the skirt is frozen solid . I manage to get it back on the boat, but now my fingers are real cold . Get 'em back in the poggies so they'll warm up (Bob, thanks again for the poggie pattern ). I warm back up nicely, but after a little more surfing & squirting, figure I should get on home so I can take the wife out tonight.

Trouble begins at the truck. I can't get the frozen zipper open for the pocket on my life jacket . I didn't want to jump into the river to thaw the zipper. I cupped my hands around the zipper & blow. A LOT. I finally get it partially open . Now the caribiner that holds my truck keys to a loop in there is frozen closed . I just put my chest close enough to the door to unlock it. Now to get the life jacket off. Yeah, the zipper & buckle on the side are frozen closed too . I am not jumping into the river. After MUCH struggling , I manage to pull the life jacket over my head. I guess I should have had it a little tighter for safety's sake. I drop it on the ground & it holds it's shape . The skirt comes off ok, but it too holds it's shape. Wow, it's really tricky loading an ice-coated boat .

Today, my life jacket & skirt still retain the shape that they held when I took them off yesterday. This is supposed to be the SUNNY SOUTH!!! Well, technically, the sun was (& still is) shining .

The lessons:
1-get a better cap if I'm going to roll in this coldness .
2-don't keep the truck keys on me .
3-the paddling season still never ends .

If you can't stay dry, at least stay warm!
Mike W.

[aldenb]

mike, youre a paddling fiend! my hat is off to anyone who is out there playing at under 32 degrees!
Alden

[mike's wife]

I think Mike W. needs his head examined sometimes!!!

Mrs. Mike W.

[Jim]

Saturday morning in the kitchen, while my wife was talking to me, I was looking over her shoulder at birds on our birdfeeder. The Farmington River is another 60 feet past the bird feeder and when my wife saw that distracted look she said "No. NO WAY. You are NOT going paddling in this weather today."

It was about 0 degress F at the time.

My wife knows me pretty well, but there is a limit. Mine starts around 25 deg F (when the sun is out), so I was not making plans to get on the river (it was cold just working in the yard).

Once things get near freezing things can go wrong too quickly. Like in Mike's story, I have frozen into my paddling attire. I have had to drive home and then stand around in the basement to get my lifejacket unfrozen enough to remove it.

But for time on the river- it is worth it.

Jim

[sbroam]

I find those fuzzy rubber style caps (like Rapid Style makes) are much better than fleece skull caps - they don't soak up near as much water, in fact they frequently keep my head entirely dry.

When it gets cold enough to have ice on my gear, I don't play so hard that I'm likely to flip. When it gets gold enough for there to be ice on the river, we go to the Waffle House and talk about paddling over a cup of coffee... If I'm that cold, I ain't havin' fun...

Scott
even further south than you

[dixie_boater]

While my friends may paddle when it's cold enough for ice to be in the river, I don't paddle when it's that cold. Stories of ice-covered PFDs, sprayskirts, hair, dry suits, etc. are enough to keep me away. I've heard horror stories of Sect. IV trips where Lake Tugaloo is frozen over, forcing boaters to either walk out at Possum Creek or act like an ice-breaker for the 2+ miles to the boat ramp. Not good.

Average winter days in the deep South are usually in the fifties. Why go out and freeze your butt off the few days it's in the twenties or thirties. Wait a couple of days until it warms back up. The weekend after New Years Day we paddled the Chattooga Sat. and Sun. The highs were in the upper 60's with lows in the fifties. It was down right warm. The water level was good at 1.7'. We camped out Saturday night at Thrifts Ferry. We sat around the fire in shirt sleeves drinking cold adult beverages. Winter paddling just doesn't get any better

[Mike W.]

I've been wearing a silicon swim cap, but couldn't find it Saturday so I wore fleece. I think I'm going to order one of those fuzzy rubber caps tomorrow.

I've paddled with the air as low as 20 & the water 36. I didn't stay long that day. The Roanoke is dam fed & there's a weir above the dam so it pulls water off of the top of the lake (the coldest reading I've seen on the gauge is 36). I tend to do the park & play thing when it's really cold. That way I'm never far from the truck.

Jim, it's a funny thing about wives, they don't all realize that sometimes we can look at something that is extremely enticing, & be happy just looking at it. Some days if I can't paddle, I'll ride to the river & just look at it. She doesn't understand.

Dixie Boater, it was a BIG switch from last Saturday's air temps to this past Saturday's temps up here too. Last week when we did the Appomattox, I dressed for the water & sweated a lot when I was upright.

Stay warm!
Mike W.

[KNeal]

I thought I would drop my .02 cents worth on the subject of winter paddling, since I was out today on the James at Pony Pasture. Okay, okay, I gotta be honest that the air temp. was a balmy 55 degrees today, but the water sure was cold ! To top it off, I didn't find my pogie for my shaft hand so I spent a lot of time keeping that hand out of the water as much as I could.

Anyways, I think Mike W. pointed out why we DO paddle in conditions like that. They always make for good posting on paddling message boards . The stories are always unique because they are not the "gnarly class 5/steepest creekin' run/boulder boofin'/rodeo throwin'" stories that frequently posted (though these stories are not the norm on our site ). Here is Mike dealing with "hair" issues (literally ) like: frozen hair, moustache, beard, pfd, booties...etc., and he needs to know how other fellow c-boaters deal with this. Well, I think several of us has done just that, in spite of the higher intelligent ones among us (because they are older, usually married, and already paddled in frigid weather earlier in their paddling lives ). Hmm. I believe that I fit that last description.

Anyways, Mike. I can relate to your "epic" paddling adventure from several whitewater/ice paddling trips. One was done in 10 degree weather when I could not unzip my pfd, booties, and drytop until I got home and got in the shower with the whole gear on (made for a heck of a drive home wearing all that extra padding ). Another was when I was lining up for a particular drop on the James through the last bit of Hollywood rapid, when I flipped (accidentally, of course) to my offside when I threw down the MOST effective back deck/helicopter roll I have ever done. Only my chin went into the water, being especially diligent in keeping my nose, eyes, and forehead OUT of the water (something about the water being exquisitely frigid that day ). Finally, I shall finish with the past Jan. 1 paddling trips when we walked out ON the frozen river for about 50 yards, placing our boats into a channel broken open by earlier paddlers, and paddling out to open water to continue our trip downstream. One notable lesson that day--never NEVER play icebreaker through a bed of ice on a MOVING body of water. As you continue your way downstream, the long sheets of ice broken loose tend to close in behind you and if you get to the point (like I did) where you cannot break through the ice anymore, then you end up blocked in ! Luckily, I saw the ice closing in just in time to paddle my butt, and boat, out of there.

Now that I am older, I don't think I will relive these memories (I'm older, I'm married, and I have already paddled in frigid weather in my earlier paddling life ). Hmmm, weather should be nice n Tuesday. Wonder who I can get to go boatin' with me?

[Jim]

Dixie Boater:

You are missing all those great winter views!. For me the best part about paddling in the winter is all the wildlife- bald eagles, otters, mink and plenty of other things are much more evident this time of year.

On the other hand, since you paddle a Whitesell you can appreciate this story. A fey years ago we had warm weather and the river behind my house opened up. Given the air temps and water level, I assumed that the rest of it must have opened up as well. So off I paddled with the schedule that my wife was to pick me up about 5 miles downstream in a couple of hours.

The first couple of miles were great. Then I entered a stretch mostly surrounded by state forest. At the bottom of a rapid there was a couple of hundred yards of solid ice, so I was off into the woods to hike with my Whitesell (and not one of those lite models either). At least there was enough snow for me to drag it along.

A little farther in there was more ice. This time for almost 1/4 mile. Now I am hustling because I know that if I am late my wife will freak out.

After paddling a bit I run into another, longer patch of ice. I found a trail and was almost jogging with the boat, because I am picturing my wife calling the police.

I end up making it to the take out on time, but quite sweaty. Then the snow started while I waited for her. She had fallen asleep and I got to shiver for 1/2 hour before she showed up.

However, most outings go better and the views are spectacular in the winter.

Jim

[dixie_boater]

Jim,

There are great views during the winter. In my youth I made some trips when Georgia got the rare snowstorm. A front came in one January in the 80's dumping up to two inches of rain, pumping the creeks up, but on the backside of the front cold air brought several inches of snow! My friend and I loved paddling the lower Amicalola Creek whenever it ran (requires a good rain the day before) and that day I called in sick to take advantage of the water. As we drove up to the creek the snow got deeper and deeper. There were six to eight inches of the fluffy precip at the put-in. We were worried about paddling on a 32 degree day with high water. Everthing was so beautiful that we decided it would be worth it no matter how much we froze our asses off. The sun came out mid-morning and the bank-side scenery was spectacular! The snow-covered trees and hills reflecting the sunlight were beautiful. The only problem we had was getting out to scout for strainers. The banks were icy and even my felt-soled booties wouldn't get much traction on the ice. My friend had ice on his sprayskirt, but it wasn't hard to knock it off. My painters froze together and icicles dripped from my aluminum gunnels. At the takeout we didn't have many problems getting out of our gear. The keys had been stashed on the vehicle so no frozen PFD pocket or biner to fight in order to get in the car. That was one of only a few times I tried paddling in the snow and ice. Probably not much compared to what y'all have in the Northeast, but still plenty challenging to us. There wasn't much wildlife out except for a few song birds. The muskrats and minks were holed-up or hid while we paddled by them. If you are quiet you can usually see river mink on the Amicalola. It is one of the most beautiful places in Georgia next to the Chattooga or Upper Conasauga.


I bet you did work up quite a sweat pulling your Whitesell over a frozen trail. My older Whitesell is the heavy "tuff" hull and it would be quite hard to jog while pulling that boat. But when your wife may be worried that your stuck on (or to) the water it's important to get to the takeout as quick as possible.

[sbroam]

I've had a number of notable cold days on the river that I wouldn't trade for a dozen hot and crowded ones :

I think it was my third GAF, maybe '93 (I traded up from an ME to a Viper) - the leaves were just past peak on Friday and Saturday. We woke to a lightly falling snow on Sunday, two of us went up to Surfing Rapid to try out our new boats, dry tops, and other gear - and just to say we paddled in the snow! We had the place to ourselves. What a beautiful day. Unforunately all of the shots from the river ended up out of focus, though I did get some "post card" pictures on the drive home - the fall leaves and the dusting of snow contrasted nicely.

Paddled the Nolichucky in January one year at about 2,000 CFS - the air was in the low 30's and the water was at about 32.000001o F. The slopes were dusted with the white stuff. Oddly, I think I was warmer in my open boat than the decked boaters, but then again, I wasn't getting enders or playing as hard...

Ran section IV of the Chattooga on New Years Day a couple of years back - that gorge was a couple of degrees colder than the parking lot at the 76 bridge... Enough ice to be pretty, but not enough to be a hazard. Beat the heck out of watching football on TV.

dixie_boater - I'll second that opinion on the lower Amicalola. Only been there twice, but it is one pretty place.

[Jan_dettmer]

Here on Vanc Isl, winter is the season. We do not have enough rain in summer month and not much snow in the mountains. So, the season starts in October and end around the end of April or May.
However, most of the times it does not get that cold that everything freezes in.
Typical temps are around 0 - 5 deg C (dunno what that is in deg F )
The water is pretty cold all the time, so a drysuit and skull cap are mandatory.
I like those surf skin caps. Have one from Kokatat and the great thing about this material is that it fits under almost every helmet. I cannot wear a neoprene one under my helmet (which has a minicell foam fitting). And it keeps my head almost dry.

One of the bad things of cold water is that you can destroy your ears, so, since I roll a lot when playboating, I wear (silicone?) ear plugs to avoid closure of the ear channel.

Man, all those icicled canyon walls and snowcovered peaks last weekend looked great. I don't mind paddling in the (mild) winter at all.

And best of all: you can sled to the river from your car and don't have to carry!!

On the river, Jan

[creek1r]

Several years ago between Xmas and New Years was at breakfast in Tellico Plains. Left for river at 10am. Temp on Bank sign was 10 deg F. Was colder at bridge put-in below Jared's Knee. Water flash froze to every thing. Did the Maury (Goshen Pass) and someone said it was 4 deg F. Another time on Goshen Pass, had huge slabs 6' X 4' X 6" of ice in the river. Made things interesting. Have done Bullpasture several times at 15 deg F or so. Also the Mayo River was a 8" deep Slushy on a run. BRRRRR - I'm getting to old for this. Maybe I'll limit to 20 deg.

B R Bryant

[cosmik]

I paddled one day last spring when there was at least 2 feet of snow on the bank and snow was falling off us off the trees on the bank. We paddled to rivers, the Warner and Blackwater in southern New Hampsire. I was paddling an Overflow converted and it was less than optimal but fun none the less. I didn't have poggies, but my hands got so cold that I felt sick everytime I moved them. One of my friends gave me his poggies and we continued. It was beautiful, the snow on the trees and the ice in the river. After paddling the warner we headed over to the Blackwater which was equally as cool. Onfortunatly I'm used to paddling with just wool socks on for protection if nothing else. I decided to wear my tennis shoes this day just for a little help walking in the snow. At the takeout for the Blackwater, I walked about 50 yards form the river to the road through the snow and then down the road a little ways to the car. When I got halfway back to the car, I saw that one of my shoes had fallen off and I hadn't even noticed and couldn't feel that I was walking barefoot on gravel! That was one of my best days on the river though. Paddling in the snow is awesome.
Will

[Mike W.]

Scott, you were right about the fuzzy rubber. I bought a Lotus fuzzy ruber skull cap & it's great . Today the snow was falling, the air stayed a constant 20 degrees & the water dropped from 40 to 37 . A couple of times when I flipped in the hole, I got some water under the skull cap. That was pretty cold for a minute or two each time, but then I warmed right back up.

One of the kayakers busted his boat. I had 2 C-1's with me. I offered to let him paddle either of them. It's soooo funny to watch the look on a 'yakers face when you offer to let him try your boat . I don't know what they're scared of.

We even had the police called on us today. Seems somebody thought we were stranded out in the river . At least they didn't try to arrest us.

Mike W.